What’s next?
Buckeyes’ season is on hold because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests
“The health and the safety of our players is of upmost importance. We hope this is a temporary pause. We look forward to getting back on the court soon.” Chris Holtmann Ohio State head coach
For the first time since the start of the 2020-21 season, Ohio State has had to cancel a men’s basketball game due to COVID-19 positives within its program.
And it wasn’t just any game, either. Riding a four-game winning streak, the No. 15 Buckeyes were set to face No. 21 Kentucky in Las Vegas on Saturday as part of the annual CBS Sports Classic doubleheader. What figured to be a national showcase for third-year junior E.J. Liddell, who will celebrate his 21st birthday Saturday, will instead be a day where the Buckeyes are bunkered down, holding out hope that no more players turn up positive tests and that the rest of the schedule will be unaffected.
It’s a tough day for Ohio State, which loses a marquee game on its schedule as part of an event coach Chris Holtmann said was one the Buckeyes highly valued. Now with Thursday’s cancellation, what comes next for Ohio State?
Here’s what we know:
Multiple players tested positive Although a staff member tested positive for the virus a few weeks ago, this situation started with just one player testing positive for the virus. It wasn’t until late Thursday morning that the Buckeyes had to shut down a weightlifting session, grab their phones and head to the practice gym at Value City Arena to undergo PCR tests. Players were required to be socially distant from that point, and the majority of them played a team video game while awaiting results inside the gym.
From there, multiple players returned positive tests.
“The health and the safety of our players is of upmost importance,” Holtmann said. “We look forward to continuing to get more direction as we continue to test here in the coming days. We hope this is a temporary pause. We look forward to getting back on the court soon.
Players who tested positive will be out at least 10 days
Kentucky might be the only game Ohio State will have to cancel, but players who tested positive will miss more. In order to return to action, players regardless of vaccination status are required to enter isolation for a period of 10 days without exception.
During that time period, they are not allowed to participate in any athletic activities.
Once the 10 days are up and a player has a negative test, he must go through a full cardiac workup before then being allowed to start returning to team activities. The whole process is overseen by the team’s athletic training staff and medical personnel, not the coaching staff.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to host Tennessee Martin on Tuesday and then have a week off before hosting New Orleans on Dec. 28. Any players who tested positive Thursday would also miss at least the Tennessee Martin game.
Ohio State resumes Big Ten play Jan. 2 at Nebraska.
It wasn’t just positive tests that canceled Kentucky game
Although Ohio State returned multiple positive tests, the Buckeyes would have been short-handed but still had enough bodies to play Kentucky. The issue was that if a player tested negative in Columbus on Thursday and then presented symptoms and tested positive in Las Vegas on Friday, that player would then have to quarantine on site for the 10-day period.
That was a non-starter for the program, which was not willing to risk having to leave a sick player thousands of miles from home.
Tuesday’s game is on
The Buckeyes will continue to test players in the coming days in the hopes that the virus does not spread further. If Ohio State does not turn up more positive tests, it is still likely to host Tennessee Martin on Tuesday night.
A decision on that will not be made until likely the day before or day of the game.
Booster shots are likely on the way
Before the Buckeyes got the 2021-22 season underway, Holtmann said the program had reached a 100% vaccination rate. Now, within the next week, players who have not already had one are likely to start receiving booster shots to further protect against the virus.
Ohio State had one game canceled last season, when visiting Alabama A&M had players test positive.